EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: From Maine to Peabody, Massachusetts

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

From Maine to Peabody, Massachusetts

The Pottery of Moses Bailey Paige
Justin W. Thomas

According to the Peabody Historical Society, “By 1775, seventy-five potters were operating in the towns of Danvers and Peabody in Essex County, Massachusetts, about 20 miles north of Boston. But during the first half of the nineteenth century, demand for red earthenware began to decrease, and after 1850, only two potteries remained in Peabody. One was owned by Joseph Reed (1809-1884), who had purchased a pottery at 102 Central Street from the Osborn family.”

A group of accomplished potters were employed at the Reed Pottery (ca. early-1860s-1876), producing utilitarian red earthenware similar to what had been made by the Osborns, as early as 1736. Among that group of potters was Charles A. Lawrence (1829-1906), who left sometime around 1866 to establish an important pottery (ca. 1866-1906) in Beverly, Massachusetts. Moses Bailey Paige (ca. 1847/48-1941) was also employed; he was born in Weare, New Hampshire, and reportedly moved to Winthrop, Maine around the age of ten for school. He later became a farmer and relocated to Peabody (formerly South Danvers) about 1872. He was soon employed at Reed’s Pottery and eventually purchased the business in 1876. Paige quickly enlarged the pottery’s facilities to maximize production. By 1906, the company was incorporated and Paige served as president and general manager of the lucrative business.

The Moses Paige Pottery

The Moses Paige Pottery is traditionally viewed as a company that manufactured flowerpots in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Those flowerpot forms include hanging pots, pots with attached saucers and terracotta-style pots - some of the pots were even embellished with handles and crimped decoration. But this business also produced classic forms of utilitarian pottery, such as jugs, pans and pitchers, as well as decorative objects like candlesticks and vases with colorful glazes. Monumental vases were also made with applied ornamental flowers during the circa 1895-1900 period.

Many of these products can be mistaken for production elsewhere today, which closely resemble forms made decades prior. Some of the forms were even intentionally glazed on the base. The pottery also incorporated the use of manganese and some slip-decoration, which was popular with local potters, especially before the American Revolution.

During the early years, Paige’s company likely continued to produce red earthenware similar to what was manufactured at the Osborn-Reed Pottery. But that production must have quickly changed or the company’s operations expanded, when in 1893, Paige became involved with a monumental teapot standing 15 inches tall, decorated with a transfer printed floral design and gilt decoration.

The teapot was consigned to Skinner on Park Plaza in Boston in 2002, where auction records indicate, “Moses Paige said the teapot was made for an exhibit at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. When the fair closed, the pot was returned to the Paige Pottery. In 1932, and the ten year’s following, it was displayed in the Old Wheeler Tea House in Gloucester, Massachusetts.”

19th century teapot that was displayed at the Old Wheeler Tea House in Gloucester, Mass.

Reportedly also displayed at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893

Courtesy: Skinner, Inc.

This teapot may have been regarded as a means of advertising, especially since red earthenware from this company has been found in various contexts of ownership in Gloucester. For example, there are two dark-glazed red earthenware flowerpots from the Paige Pottery that retain a history of ownership at the circa 1804 Captain Elias Davis House, which is now a part of the Cape Ann Museum.

Paige also used more conventional resources for advertising, such as local newspapers, where he frequently mentioned the production of bean pots. His business even appeared in the annual 1881 edition of The North Shore of Massachusetts Bay: An Illustrated Guide, published in Salem, Massachusetts. The author wrote, “Central Street in Peabody was known for its production of Danvers-China and Paige’s Pottery was the last business from this industry still in operation.”

Aside from the local distribution, the floral wares were also apparently a major export. Paige Pottery flowerpot remains have been recovered from archaeological contexts throughout coastal Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire and parts of coastal Maine. For instance, I studied the remains of a flowerpot recovered a few years back near Portland in Westbrook, Maine, which matches a pot from the Paige Pottery donated to the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. by Massachusetts author Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares).

More recently though, flowerpot sherds were recovered from a brick-lined privy by archaeologists in the summer of 2015 at the Industrial School for Girls in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The school was founded in 1853, but it is not known if a student originally owned the flowerpots or if the school had purchased the pots from a local merchant.

A large intact handled unglazed flowerpot was even recently discovered inside an old barn in southern New Hampshire. The form matches flowerpots illustrated in an old photograph owned by the Peabody Historical Society that shows flowerpots stacked to the ceiling at the Paige Pottery, circa 1920. This style of popular flowerpot is even known today as the "Peabody pot."

Paige also employed a group of skilled potters, responsible for much of the company’s production. Those potters included John Donovan (1851-1932), a traveling potter born surrounded by the potter’s craft in Exeter, New Hampshire, and Edwin A. Rich (1856-1938) who worked for Paige in Peabody, as well as the C.A. Lawrence Pottery in Beverly.

The essence of both of these men was captured in the twentieth century by photographs now owned by the Peabody Historical Society - Donovan is pictured alongside a group of decorative vases and flowerpots, most of which he likely created in an exhibit at City Hall in Peabody – whereas Rich is shown throwing a vase on the potter's wheel inside the Paige Pottery, surrounded by drying bean pots.

Anecdotes from Paige’s Pottery

The Peabody Historical Society was founded in 1896 - some of the society's original members were directly related to the Osborn family of potters. From the start, this organization devoted a great interest to the history of red earthenware production in Peabody.

In 1909, historical society members acquired examples of some of the ingredients used in the actual glazing process at the Paige Pottery. These elements are still owned by the historical society today, and kept in the same glass bottles with labels that they were originally obtained.

The historical society also owns a large collection of Paige Pottery newspaper clippings from the 1920s-1940s. Paige advertised himself as an “honest man” with a variety of goods available to the “Law Abiding Citizens of Peabody.” This is also about the same time for when Paige made headlines after thieves stole 15 inch sewer pipe that weighed 350 pounds each.

This was the same sewer pipe that Paige published was the best around, advertising it was so appealing that it was at some doctor’s advice that it was beneficial to one’s health to keep in the household. He published, “The pipe was clean, safe sound and it would certainly attract attention in your living room.”

The Paige Pottery also made local newspaper headlines for crime that happened after business hours in front of the company building. For example, there was one summer night in the 1930s, where two men were charged with assault and battery, malicious mischief to Paige’s pottery and public drunkenness.

Although, Paige was also the focus of an ongoing court battle after he obtained a permit to remain open on Sundays. City Councilor William Houlden (1904-1971), a former chauffeur at the pottery appeared determined to get this permit revoked. Perhaps he was a disgruntled former employee, but the court ruled in favor of Paige, stating, “Keeping the pottery open on Lord’s Day did not constitute a crime.”

Paige’s seven-day-a-week business was not exclusive to red earthenware production, either. The company advertised, “horse brushes, Dietz lanterns, China feeders, glass globes, egg beaters, fire bricks imported from Holland, mason jars, jelly glasses, stone water coolers, metal garbage cans, wash basins, metal pitchers, can openers, and rain-washed goods at reduced prices.”

Two original catalogs from the Paige Pottery are stored in the archives of the Peabody Historical Society today, which advertised the company’s glazed and painted flowerpots, saucers and fancy flowerpots. But there were other forms, such as round seed pans, milk pans, pudding pans, poultry founts, covered herb pitchers, vinegar measures, bean pots, lards pots and cuspidors.

Furthermore, the company brokered stoneware, cane colored ware, Rockingham ware, white lined ware, white granite ware and C.C. ware. Presumably, the C.C. ware was manufactured at the C.C. Thompson Pottery Company (1868-1838) in East Liverpool, Ohio. In fact, a catalog from the C.C. Thompson Pottery Company was obtained by the historical society from Paige’s pottery, alongside the company catalogs and an 1889 account book kept by Paige’s wife, Eliza Paige (1854-1936), whom he married on July 18, 1893. The couple had one son, James Edward Paige (1896-1946), who went on to help manage the business and assist with sales.

But by the late-1930s, the company had begun to decline. It was published, “Mr. Paige was still going despite not feeling well.” It was at this point that the business also advertised, “A large assortment of pottery at bargain prices.^”

John Donovan had passed away in 1932, who was a master potter at the company - as a result, I also question how extensive the production remained, even though two Italian immigrant potters, Ermano and Luigi Paolucci were employed. The Peabody Historical Society actually owns a black-matte-glazed lidded pitcher that was made by Donovan and glazed by Luigi Paolucci, circa 1930.

Nevertheless, Paige passed away in 1941. Neswspaper headlines began to refer to Paige’s business and excess goods as, “Paiges’s Shrine.” Massachusetts probate records indicate that he left the business to his son - although, at some point, the Paoluccis attempted to revive the company, where they produced Italian-style red earthenware, but the business was overall unsuccessful. Interestingly, though, newspaper headlines still advertised the company as the “Moses Paige Pottery Under New Management,” as late as April 6, 1945. Soon after, there was a bankruptcy sale for thousands of pieces of pottery, trucks, office equipment, etc.

According to Watkins, "Two Italians, Ermano and Luigi Paolucci acquired the old Osborn-Reed-Paige Pottery, where they attempted to throw pots and to run the kiln, but they had not enough skill to do excellent hand work and they found machine methods unprofitable in competition with the great modern factories. They nevertheless turned out a number of interesting things in Italian style. These were principally pitchers and large deep dishes, tin-enameled, and painted in gay floral designs. They also succeeded in producing some colored glazes, such as a soft rose color, on a red earthenware body."

Twentieth century pitcher made at the Peabody Pottery

Possibly made by the Paoluccis

Reportedly decorated by a girl half Italian and half Argentine

Circa 1926

Photo Courtesy: Historic New England

Twentieth century pitcher attributed to Peabody, Mass.

Possibly made by the Paoluccis

Circa 1940s-1950s

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Observations from Paige’s Pottery

In 2015, I met a married couple from East Sandwich, Massachusetts. They grew up knowing Frank H. Norton (1918-1986), a family friend and fourth generation potter from the famed Norton family in New England. He was also a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who visited the Paige Pottery when it was still in operation.

I was able to acquire a red earthenware vase, which was originally owned by Professor Norton. The couple told me John Donovan made the vase in Peabody in the 1920s. The form of the vase matches another vase that the National Museum of American History had acquired from Lura Woodside Watkins, which was marked “PEABODY POTTERY / 1736 / MADE BY / J.J. DONOVAN / 1930.

Professor Norton was an avid collector, especially from the potteries north of Boston. He donated the bulk of his collection to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1971. Among those objects were four pieces made at the Paige Pottery, including a jug and a pitcher that were marked with the same impression as was the vase that I just described from the Smithsonian. This mark is also found on a lidded pitcher, also donated to the Smithsonian by Watkins.

A characteristic I have noticed about some of the objects made at the Paige Pottery is an unmistakable deep finger impression found on handle terminals. This impression is usually found on objects made by Donovan based on what is known about the wares he stamped. Many of Donovan’s objects also appear to have displayed a thick glaze sanded on the base after they were fired in the kiln, similar to what is found with many art potters in Massachusetts during this period.

Donovan may have also been involved with the manufacture of chicken waterers for barns and farms. This form is published in the Paige Pottery catalog as, “poultry founts.” There is actually a chicken waterer that has been on display in recent years at the Topsfield Fair in Massachusetts, which was possibly made at the Paige Pottery. The fair was established in 1818, and it is likely that the Paige Pottery may have displayed some of its production in the years that the company operated. But it should be noted that this form was also produced at the C.A. Lawrence Pottery in Beverly.

My niece Alexis with a large pitcher from the Paige Pottery

We found this pitcher at a local flea market in the summer of 2017

The dealer told use she had just removed it from an old house in Gloucester, Mass.

Historical Context

I have always been curious to know why some areas in America praise later potters today, but in other areas, those potters can be overlooked. The Paige Pottery has not been completely forgotten, but much of the company’s history may have been lost if it were not for people like Watkins and Professor Norton, as well as the Peabody Historical Society.

An original painted tin sign survives from the Paige Pottery, acquired by the historical society in 1978. The sign partially reads, “M.B. PAIGE CO. / MANUFACTURERS AND JOBBERS / PEABODY POTTERY / ESTABLISHED 1736.” The Osborn Pottery was actually established at this site in 1736, and this is likely proof that Paige respected his predecessors, which is also exactly how Charles A. Lawrence operated in Beverly. This connection to the past may have also been the result of these businesses having been established around the centennial, where there may have been a sense of sentiment and colonial revival.

But the mere fact that the Paige Pottery continued to produce utilitarian and decorative objects in the twentieth century is a feat in itself. New England utilitarian potters had vanished by this period - although Moses Paige and his cast of potters continued to remain relevant in a period when the potter’s industry had largely altered itself to conform with the Industrial Revolution and the art potter’s movement. The Osborn-Reed-Paige Pottery is very possibly the only continuously run business in America to have produced red earthenware before 1740, all while regularly operating through the early-1940s.

Archival Photos from the Moses Paige Pottery, Peabody, Mass.

Twentieth century photograph that shows the exterior of the Paige Pottery at 102 Central Street in Peabody, Massachusetts. A wide variety of products are displayed.
Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Moses Paige (bottom left) with Paige Pottery employees in front of the business.

Circa 1890
Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Workers cleaning up the backyard at the Paige Pottery. A large stack of wood is shown, which was probably used in the kiln, as well as piles of broken pots.
Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Moses Paige (left) with his son, James Paige (right) in the early twentieth century.
This photo was probably taken on Central Street in Peabody, Massachusetts.
Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

James Paige, Early 1900s
Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

A major fire at the Paige Pottery in 1915. A large stack of sewer pipes are pictured next to the building. This is the type of pipe that was sometimes stolen from the pottery. This is also the same pipe Paige advertised was beneficial to one's health.

Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Another Scene from the Paige Pottery Fire in 1915

Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Another Scene from the Paige Pottery Fire in 1915

Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Edwin A. Rich throwing a vase on the potter’s wheel at the Paige Pottery, circa 1905/06. A similar vase was donated to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston by Professor Frank H. Norton with a yellow glaze that was made at the Paige Pottery. Bean pots are also pictured drying on the rack behind him.
Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Flowerpots and bean pots in storage at the Paige Pottery, circa 1920. A matching flowerpot was discovered a few years ago inside an old barn in southern Maine.
Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

John Donovan with a display of decorative objects and flowerspots, probably most of which he created at City Hall in Peabody, circa 1920.

Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

20th century photograph of locally made red earthenware displayed in a house in Peabody, Mass.

Some of the objects were made at the Paige Pottery

Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Paige Pottery Applied Floral Decorations

Large vases with applied floral decorations made at the Paige Pottery, circa 1895-1900.

Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Back of the photo

"Vases made at Paige Pottery 110 Central Street Peabody / Between 1895-1900

Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Large vase with applied floral decoration made at the Paige Pottery, circa 1895-1900.

Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Back of the photo

"Vase made by James Porter at / Paige Pottery 110 Central Street Peabody / 1895-1900"

Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Vase with applied floral decoration that we found in Brunswick, ME in July 2018.

This vase is from the same line of production at the Paige Pottery as seen in the photos above.

Likely circa 1895-1900

View of the glazed interior

This bright orange glaze was a popular color produced at the Paige Pottery

History of the Paige Pottery

(Left to Right) Eliza Paige’s account book, C.C. Thompson Pottery catalog from Ohio and two catalogs from the Moses Paige Pottery.

Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

M.B. Paige Pottery billhead

Circa 1894

Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Original painted tin sign from the Moses Paige Pottey, likely circa nineteenth century.
Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Glaze ingredients acquired from the Paige Pottery by the Peabody Historical Society in 1909.

Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Impressed Marks Applied at the Paige Pottery

Twentieth century red earthenware vase made by John Donovan at the Paige Pottery

Marked “PEABODY POTTERY / 1736 / MADE BY / J.J. DONOVAN / 1930”

Lura Woodside Watkins Collection

Courtesy: National Museum of American at the Smithsonian

Twentieth century red earthenware pitcher made by John Donovan at the Paige Pottery

Marked “PEABODY POTTERY / 1736 / MADE BY / J.J. DONOVAN / 1930”

Lura Woodside Watkins Collection

Courtesy: National Museum of American at the Smithsonian

Another View of the Pitcher
This is the Type of Finger Impression John Donovan Applied on Handle Terminals

Courtesy: National Museum of American at the Smithsonian

Another View of the Pitcher

Courtesy: National Museum of American at the Smithsonian

Twentieth century red earthenware jug made by John Donovan at the Paige Pottery

Marked “PEABODY POTTERY / 1736 / MADE BY / J.J. DONOVAN / 1930”

Frank H. Norton Collection

Courtesy: Museum of Fine Arts Boston

View of the Mark
Marked “PEABODY POTTERY / 1736 / MADE BY / J.J. DONOVAN / 1930”

Courtesy: Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Twentieth century red earthenware pitcher made by John Donovan at the Paige Pottery

Marked “PEABODY POTTERY / 1736 / MADE BY / J.J. DONOVAN / 1930”

Frank H. Norton Collection

Courtesy: Museum of Fine Arts Boston

View of the Mark

Marked “PEABODY POTTERY / 1736 / MADE BY / J.J. DONOVAN / 1930”

Courtesy: Museum of Fine Arts Boston

(Left) Souvenir handled pot from the Paige Pottery

Stamped "Peabody Pottery / Established / 1736"

(Right) Souvenir bean pot likely made at the Paige Pottery

Inscription on back reads, "Peabody / S of V Fair / 1898"

But this type of souvenir pot was also produced at the C.A. Lawrence Pottery in Beverly, Mass.

Poultry Founts Made at the Paige Pottery and the C.A. Lawrence Pottery

Animal Feeder Displayed at the Topsfield Fair in Topsfield, Mass.

This form is illustrated by both the Paige Pottery and the C.A. Lawrence Pottery.

May have been made at the Paige Pottery since this company is known to have exhibited at the fair.

Courtesy: Topsfield Fair

Archaeology and Flowerpots

(Left) Moses Paige Pottery glazed flowerpot sherds recovered by archaeologists from a privy at the Industrial School for Girls in Dorchester, Massachusetts. (Right) A matching formed unglazed flowerpot attributed to the Paige Pottery that was discovered in an old garage in Beverly, Massachusetts.
Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Department

Remains of a flowerpot attributed to the Moses Paige Pottery recovered at a demolition site
Found beneath a house in Westbrook, ME
Courtesy: Chris Havey

Flowerpot found in an old barn in southern New Hampshire from the Paige Pottery that is similar to some terracotta-style sherds recovered at the Industrial School for Girls in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Department

Flowerpot attributed to the industry in Peabody, Mass.

Crimped decoration also found with wares made at the Paige Pottery and C.A. Lawrence Pottery

Courtesy: Magazine Antiques

Popular form of flowerpot from the Paige Pottery known as the "Peabody Pot"

Courtesy: Guy Wolf

Flowerpots made at the Paige Pottery

Circa 1876-1930

Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Flowerpots made at the Paige Pottery

Retains history of ownership in Gloucester, Mass.

Courtesy: Captain Elias Davis House, Cape Ann Museum

Flowerpots made at the Paige Pottery

Circa 1876-1930

Published in Early England Potters and Their Wares

Lura Woodside Watkins Collection

Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

Variety of Forms Manufactured at the Paige Pottery

Vase Reportedly made by John Donovan at the Paige Pottery in the 1920s

Cape Cod family had originally acquired it from Professor Frank H. Norton

The form also matches a marked example owned by the Smithsonian

Black-mat-glazed pitcher and lid reportedly made by John Donovan
Reportedly also glazed by Luigi Paolucci
Circa 1920-1930
Similar forms are also known to have been marked by Donovan
Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Information retained with the pitcher
Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Jug or bottle made at the Paige Pottery
Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Chamber candlesticks attributed to the Paige Pottery
Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Cup and saucers attributed to the Paige Pottery
Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Green glazed vase attributed to the Paige Pottery
Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

Twentieth century vase attributed to the Paige Pottery
A similar form is pictured in an archival photo above with potter Edwin A. Rich
Frank H. Norton Collection

Courtesy: Museum of Fine Arts Boston